Thessalonica is known for Alexander the Great and his sister. Subsequently the Roman general, Pompey the Great, was based here, during his civil war with Julius Caesar. Cleopatra and all that. Pompey was assassinated in Egypt.
It became an important Byzantine city before falling to the Ottomans, where it became the Empire's second largest city. Thus, it's also famous as the birth place of Kemal Atatürk. There are still many remnants of the Ottoman Empire around town. Alexander is less evident. But it's all Greek now.
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Ottoman remnants - generally dilapidated
Our last full day in Greece. In comparison the islands, Thessaloniki is rather mundane; and the poor state of the Greek economy doesn't help. It's not high on our 'must return' list. The food was good though and a local pub had Guinness.
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A stroll to Aristotelous Square and the Ladadika area followed by
our last evening meal in Greece. Ending, as we began, with moussaka and retsina.
No hat on the table in this photo.
On our long day to Plovdiv, in Bulgaria, from Thessalonica, we got a cab to the bus station; a bus to Sophia; another cab; to get a rental car (at the airport) an airport shuttle; and so to a long drive, in a gutless little car, to our hotel.
Without our prompting the cab driver in Thessalonica launched into an attack on the illegitimate North Macedonia for usurping Alexander the Great. I didn't argue. But it was a subject that came up when we were there. It was all Macedonia back then. Alexander was born 25k inside modern Greece.
To learn about fascinating Bulgaria, Click here...